Hey Jason, I have been following your stand against paid pitching to VCs/angels/conferences. Venture Summit approached me a few days back and they are charging $6-10k just to make a 6 min pitch and a few minutes of Q/A from the audience. There is no panel. If you pay the higher price you get a 40 minute demo table after the pitch. I find this rather absurd. So I thought I let you know. Apparently they run more than 5 other of the same type of conferences around the country. Best, CEO

Begin forwarded message:

>>> >>> On behalf of AlwaysOn, I’d like to cordially invite Mugasha to participate in the CEO Showcase program at our upcoming Venture Summit Silicon Valley conference, taking place December 8th-9th at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, CA. The CEO Showcase program is a paid presentation and demo opportunity designed for private technology companies looking to raise visibility amongst an audience of investors, press, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives. Up to 50 qualified CEOs from companies seeking capital or potential acquirers will demonstrate their technologies and market strategies at VSSV. >>> >>> >>> >>> Venture Summit is a two-day gathering that highlights the significant economic, political, and technology trends impacting the global growth investor. Taking place alongside the CEO Showcase program will be keynote presentations and panel debates featuring influential venture capitalists and angel investors, corporate buyers, investment bankers, and entrepreneurs. AlwaysOn and Morgan Stanley will also announce the Global VC 50, featuring the leading venture investors who have performed well in 2009 and who hold the most promise for the future >>> >>> >>> >>> Below is a link to the Venture Summit agenda. I would be happy to schedule a call in order to answer any questions you may have about the event and the CEO Showcase program, or feel free to call me at your convenience at the number below. We hope to see you at Venture Summit Silicon Valley! >>> >>> >>> >>> Venture Summit 2009 | December 8th-9th >>> Rosewood Sand Hill | Menlo Park, CA >>> >>> >>> >>> Sincerely, >>> Greg >>> >>> Greg Gausewitz >>> AlwaysOn | www.alwayson.goingon.com>>> Director, West Coast >>> Business Development Group >>> Greg@AlwaysOn-Network.com>>> Office: (415) 243-0485 >>> Cell: (949) 697-7495

Jason,
I was with you on the Keiretsu Forum jihad. But neither AlwaysOn nor New York venture summit are angel investors. They are media companies. Media companies cover their costs by selling commercials. A pitch at AO is a commercial–and a pretty high-quality one. Your demo tables at TC50 are commercials. In both cases, startups buy them because they’re worth the attention.

Also, you said Greg didn’t discuss the fees until the end–not true. Reread the second sentence: “The CEO Showcase program is a paid presentation…”

This is a totally different scenario from angel forums, and the model is perfectly legit.